Despite all of the technology’s advantages, 3D printing has one major, insurmountable drawback: once 3D printing is complete, the part isn’t ready for use. All parts, regardless of the technology used, need to undergo an extensive cleaning process before they are usable. Especially parts made with an FDM 3D printer need to be thoroughly sanded or bathed in a solution that eats away the outer layers. Depending on the geometry of the part, this could take hours. But an industrial alternative has just appeared out of nowhere. Boston-based startup Rize has just unveiled the Rize One 3D printer, the first industrial 3D printer that doesn’t need any post-processing work at all.

This startup has seemingly appeared out of thin air, but actually combines decades’ worth of 3D printing experience in a new team. Founded back in 2014 by Eugene Giller (previously of Z Corp) and Leonid Raiz (co-founder of Revit, now part of Autodesk), it is led by Frank Marangell, the former the Vice President of Global Field Operations for Stratasys who previously also headed Objet’s North American branch. Most of the their team are actually Z Corp, Objet and Revit veterans who have now dedicated themselves to this new challenge. So far, they have also already raised $4 million in funding from Longworth Venture Partners and SB Capital.

That list certainly raises expectations, and Rize have definitely come up with a paradigm-shifting technology. As CEO Marangell reveals, they have developed a 3D printer that completely does away with post-processing all together.

CEO Frank Marangell

"Post-processing has been 3D printing's dirty little secret, as engineers and additive manufacturing lab managers wrestled with the reality that post-processing parts after 3D printing often doubled the total process time; added substantial costs; and prevented 3D printers from the desktop," said Marangell. "Rize One eliminates those sacrifices, opening a world of possibilities for designers and engineers to deliver prototypes and on-demand finished parts much faster and with stronger material – than before. Whether 3D printing helps you go to market, or create a market, Rize will fundamentally alter your production cycle."

“What takes three hours with other technology takes less than 30 seconds with our technology,” he says. Just print the object, snap it out of its frame, and you're done. Literally nothing else is required, thus saving massive amounts of time for each and every component. No more toxic chemical baths, no more endless sanding and no more parts ruined by this very hands-on stage of the 3D printing process. Perfect for on-demand making in any professional environment.

To enable that groundbreaking service, the Rize One relies on the new and patented augmented Polymer Deposition (APD) 3D printing technology, which can reportedly change the properties of each and every voxel and produce isotropic parts that are twice as strong as FDM 3D printed objects. It also features a build platform of 300mm x 200mm x 150mm and 3D prints layers of just 0.25mm thick.

But most importantly, it features a revolutionary support production solution. Whereas the part itself can be made from a variety of harder and softer materials (including engineering- and medical-grade thermoplastic Rizium One), a repelling ink called Release One is 3D printed between the part and the support structure. “Jetted between the part and its support structure, [it] that releases the bond between the part and the support structure, making support removal faster and safer than any other 3D printing process,” they say. Indeed, it is as simple as snapping the part off without damaging the print.

As a result, APD 3D printing can create a new standard for turnaround speeds (50 percent faster than other systems), can be easily used by professionals of every skill level. “First and foremost, unlike other 3D printing technologies, all of the materials we use in our Augmented Polymer Deposition (APD) 3D printing process are completely safe to use in your office, without any special venting, disposal equipment or gloves, and are environmentally friendly,” the Rize engineers say. Finally, APD tech even allows for the printing of ink onto the objects as well, enabling users to embed text and images into the parts. Perfect for logos.

The Rize One also comes with the custom Rize Software, which will be “as easy as clicking print.”

You don’t have to be an expert to predict that Rize could make a big splash in the 3D printing market with this remarkable industrial 3D printer – especially as it is priced at just $25,000, placing it somewhere among the cheapest industrial 3D printers. What’s more, they already have five beta customers lined up for the Rize One – including a government military supplier.

But the first Rize will be shipped to Reebok, which was one of the first beta customers. According to Reebok’s Gary Rabinovitz, they were especially impressed by the Rize’s post processing solution – a process other manufacturers don’t like to talk about. “They tell you everything else--how fast the machine is, the quality of the parts,” he explained. “None of them want to talk about what it takes to get that part to look the way you want it to look in your hands. The machine may build very quick, but when you have to add four hours of sitting in an ultrasonic bath of some type to remove those supports, it just defeats the purpose of being fast.”

"We run our 3D printers 24/7 to create the parts central to Reebok's innovation. An easy-to-use, zero post-processing 3D printer like Rize would dramatically improve workflow, enabling us to deliver parts as much as 50% faster than similar technologies, while reducing the cost of labor, materials and equipment."

Reebok is expected to get this $25,000 3D printer in late July, and will be using it to prototype sneakers and parts for sports equipment. According to Rabinovitz, he expects that the Rize One will make his job easier and more efficient. “You pull the part off, you snap it off the support and you hand it off,” he says. “In that respect, there's no one else really out there that can do what they do at this point.”

Should this remarkable Rize One 3D printer catch on, it could fundamentally change the way parts are prototyped in offices and laboratories. And with the 3D printing market projected to grow to $15 billion over the next decade, Rize might be right on time to ride the wave of new companies exploring 3D printing options. “Now you're putting the printer next to the person who wants to print,” Marangell says. “It's that kind of revolutionary change.” The company is expected to start taking orders in September – after beta customer feedback has been processed – with shipping expected to start at the end of the year.

The principle of using repelling ink between the support and model material is great, but by no means does it make this a "completely post-processing free" method. That is just marketing spoof, that in my opinion should not be picked up on the topic. Clearly there are multiple steps involved: at least removing the part from the tray, breaking away the raft, and removing the support manually. Furthermore, intricate features and hard to reach places are where soluble support materials still shine. Moreover, printers with dedicated support material are also able to make so called break-away support structures that we see here. Thus, the only real benefit is not needing to buy the support material. However, instead you need to purchase their repelling ink. I guess we'll have to see if this takes off or not. At least the team behind it is impressive.

I.AM.Magic wrote at 7/21/2016 9:02:58 AM:

Nice printer, does anyone have the patent(s) number(s)? Can't find them.
I'm curious to see their novelty.

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